Many developments have been made to the nose cone of aircraft to optimize its mass, volume, cost, safety, ease of manufacturing, maintenance, etc. For example, such a nose cone is known as disclosed in documents FR 2 910 875 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,784,736.
The forward part of an aircraft forms a complex environment inside which elements are very compact so that they occupy the smallest possible volume. This environment includes the leaktight nose backplate, one of the functions of which is to form a structural element capable of resisting impacts, and particularly bird strikes. This leaktight backplate creates a barrier between the aft pressurized zone and the forward non-pressurized radome zone. Many developments have been made on the leaktight backplate itself to satisfy mass and dimensional constraints. For example, these developments have led to the use of a leaktight backplate with a globally V-shaped section open towards the forward direction, for a nose cone with an integrated windshield.
Nevertheless, there is still a need to reduce the global size of the aircraft nose cone even further.